Customer Reviews

Islam in Contemporary Egypt: Civil Society Vs. the State

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Islam in Contemporary Egypt looks at how civil society has been, contrary to popular belief, flourishing in the land known to the West as both a center of tourism and terrorism. The book dispels the common myth that Egypt and the Muslim societies at large do not possess the essential tradition of private voluntarism needed to establish a civil society.

The authors main footing is based on their keen observation of the countless number of civic associations and private organizations that collectively maintain Egypt as one of the most dynamic societies in the Middle East today. It is an important work because it precisely represents the inherent nature of Islam's calling toward civil democratic values. Understandably, such a work is not easy to find here in the other side of the world.

This scholarly effort is crucial as it provides a balanced perspective on how Egyptian Muslims have been striving to overcome government intervention, cooption and repression. It is especially interesting what Sullivan and Abed-Kotob had to say about the societal role played by Ikhwanul Muslimin (Muslim Brotherhood) and how the organization responds to oscillating political dynamics. The notion of "Islam is the solution" employed by many Muslim organizations is also critically analyzed by the authors giving fair and neutral observation without taking it at face value. A particularly strong point of the book, which is often overlooked by other authors in the field, is its elaboration of the Islamic face of Egypt's feminist movement spearheaded by prominent and respectable Muslim Women.

Overall, it is an excellent introductory book for newcomers to the field of Egyptian politics or for anyone who has interest in learning more about Muslim social, cultural and political activism.

This is an average, not too exceptional book with a lot of leitmotifs and common themes. It's not a bad resource to use while writing a paper, but you won't find any revolutionary ideas here. I found reading it to be a dreary bore and frustrated by what seemed like a forced effort to name the Muslim Brotherhood as the vanguard of civil society in Egypt. Being that civil society is a popular catch word in Middle East Studies these days, it is only natural that scholars come along and try to equate civil society with the non-violent Islamist violence. The problem is that the Brotherhood has never been a paragon of tolerance, democracy and pluralism--just look at how the organization is run. Moreover, I found it shocking that the work failed to discuss the Center Party despite the amount of time discussing the Muslim Brotherhood.